The other week Vernon Small said that canceling the Cullen Fund contributions was “a dumb, short-sighted decision that has cost the fund heaps in the long run“. Hell, don’t worry about the long run just yet, Vernon, it’s been only 8 months. And the losses are accelerating. Last month the Nats cost us a further $18 million – that’s basically a million a work day.
We all know that long before John Key got into the gold and uranium mining industry, Crosby Textor Chairman, Robert J Champion de Crespigny was pushing the mining industry’s cause in New Zealand. So, who is this CT man who has been called Australia’s ‘Mr Gold’, a “mining magnateâ€, a “resource-sector heavyweight†and “a legendâ€?
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Finsec’s Andrew Campbell introduces the union’s Better Banking, a trans-Tasman campaign they’re running with their Aussie counterparts to get a better deal for bank workers and bank customers. Campbell notes the banks’ $1 billion profit in the last 3 months alone and asks “Have your fees gone down? Has your mortgage payment become more manageable?”
TVNZ: “Labour has been rumbled secretly polling its own members”. Jesus, can’t Labour can’t even poll its own members without the media playing silly buggers? They’re asking their members about the party’s branding (not its values, its branding). That’s a good thing. It’s the members’ party after all. Good stuff, Labour. You don’t see National asking for its members’ opinions.
The new server seems to be doing the job.
However it will be going down for ten minutes at about midnight while it reboots to install upgrades including a new linux kernel.
Rodney Hide was furious at John Key for signing the Declaration of Indigenous Rights behind his back but he’ll get over it. ACT is getting tonnes of real policy wins. What’s disturbing is seeing the Maori Party celebrating a ‘win’ then meekly rolling over when Key tells them it’s meaningless. Why does this keep happening? Because the Maori Party is stuck. And, sadly, each loss just mires them further.
Odds are good Jim Anderton is standing for mayor of Christchurch. By-election will be a chance to rev up the Labour machine again. Safe seat: Labour+Progressive had over 20,000 candidate votes. Also gives Progressives and Labour time to combine their assets, activists, and systems well before the general election. But it looks like Labour isn’t the only one seeing an opportunity:
As John Key smiled and assured his National Party constituents that the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is aspirational, symbolic and […]
Bill English continues to tell outright lies about the economic performance of this country under Labour. This time it’s even more blatant. You don’t have to do any maths to check if he’s lying or not, you just have to go to the latest GDP stats. This has reached the point of purposely misleading the House and the public.
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We were, um, graced with the presence of ACT MP David Garrett on The Standard yesterday. He was trying to defend the 3 strikes policy, which should be renamed the murder increase law in light of the secret advice the Government received from the Ministry of Justice. Like many on the Right, Garrett is in abject denial of Justice’s findings: passing 3 strikes is gambling with people’s lives.
What the hell is going on in Labour? Phil is busy heaping praise on John Key. Calling him a “good politician”. Saying he deserves “credit where credit’s due”. One News asks if Goff is losing his marbles. 3 News wonders if he’s voting National in 2011. Me, I wonder if he’s angling for a job with the Herald. Where’s Malcolm Tucker when you need him?
Pita Sharples, like Labour, thinks the Declaration of Indigenous Rights matters. John Key sees a meaningless piece of paper, the signing of which costs him nothing. This, along with giving Tariana Turei Whanau Ora, is part of National’s clever manipulation of the Maori Party. The Maori Party leadership is co-opted, ready to roll over on the real issue- the foreshore and seabed.
Nick Smith’s brother, Tim Smith, was up on 21 charges from Environment Canterbury at the same time as Smith was ramming through the abolishment of the democratically-elected council. Smith should have told us of this apparent conflict of interest. I guess when you’re part of a government that’s hiding the fact its 3 strikes law will encourage murders, this seemed like a small thing.
Paula Bennett is celebrating the fact that job ads are on the rise. The bad news is the numbers indicate like we are still, a year after the official end of the recession, not at the point where the economy is creating enough jobs to keep unemployment in check, let alone bring it down. Time to put away to bubbly, Paula, and get to work getting Kiwis back into jobs.
In 2008 John Key made this crystal clear promise: “That in the first term of the National government there will be no state assets that will be sold either partially or fully.” Now, Land Information New Zealand is proposing the sale of seven high country stations as part of the tenure review process. Key must keep his promise not to sell state assets and turn down this proposal immediately.
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The Government has received advice from the Ministry of Justice on its ‘three strikes’ legislation. It reveals such a horrendous risk of passing the law that any government should have abandoned it immediately. Instead, Simon Power was shuffled out of the way, Justice was muzzled, & the advice was suppressed. Until now.
Patent lawyer John David Hardie is a bludger. You and me, we pay our taxes. We know we get public services and a decent society out of it. This rich prick is trying to get out of a $10.3 million tax bill. What to do with this rich bludger? How about give him a $1.25 million tax cut. That’s what that other rich layabout John Key is planning.
The most over-rated man in politics, Steven Joyce, has come up with a bright idea: let’s increase the fees for getting high skill degrees in areas where there are big skill shortages. This is typical short-term National thinking: save pennies now, and pay the big bucks later when heavily indebted and highly skilled graduates are forced to go overseas to pay off their debt in a reasonable time frame.
The eruption of the volcano under Eyjafjallajokull glacier in Iceland is an example of what we can expect more of due to climate change. Vulcanism is expected to increase as ice caps and glaciers melt. An eruption has a cooling effect, due to the sulfur dioxide thrown into the air and, in Eyjafjallajokull’s case, all the grounded planes. But don’t count on volcanoes to save us from ourselves.
Here’s a catchy tune for all you pirates out there. Get your kids to sing along!
Over the last decade or two there have been some extraordinary claims about the cost of digital copying and counterfeiting on businesses and economies. However there has been little information that hasn’t had some pretty major and almost certainly incorrect assumptions. The upshot is that the cost of copying and counterfeiting has been hugely overestimated.
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European air travel has been grounded for four days and there is no end in sight. What will be the effect of further prolonged disruption? What if the eruption lasts a year or more? Can the current crisis be turned into a constructive opportunity for rail?
Just checked out the latest polling numbers over in the UK. It seems Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg’s performance in the first leaders debate is paying off. Clegg’s party has surged ahead at the expense of the Conservatives, taking the lead in several polls. (Latest BPIX poll, LDEM 32%, CON 31%, LAB 29%). This could have huge implications.
Journos. Obama didn’t meet Key before dinner on a big stage in front of the media because it was just practical. The leaders didn’t stand with awkward grins for the group photo because it was a crucial step in the diplomatic process. This is being done for you. Only you. It is meaningless apart from the fact they know the media will lap it up. They think you’re saps. And you keep proving them right.
Pete Bethune is one of New Zealand’s heroes. He’s been a successful entrepreneur and gone on to use his wealth to fight the […]
A recent report from the US Joint Forces Command states that “By 2012, surplus oil production capacity could entirely disappear, and as early as 2015, the shortfall in output could reach nearly 10 million barrels per day”. Are you planning for a post oil future? Why not?
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Vernon Small calculates that if the Cullen Fund had continued getting its monthly contributions, rather than just the one-off $250 million the government gave in July, we would be $30 million better off by now. Predictably, the financially illiterate Key apologists are having a cry about being shown to have stuffed this one up so badly.
If you want to read something vomit-inducing this morning, there’s no need to go any further than Audrey Young’s interview with Key about his overseas trip. Key talks about touching Barack Obama, sharing secrets with Stephen Harper, discussing Berlusconi’s boat, and how Angela Merkel knew Helen Clark quite well. If only Audrey Young were taking the piss, it wouldn’t be so yellow and chunky.
From time to time you hear mention of John Key’s personal fortune of $50M. If you say fiftymilliondollars quickly enough it doesn’t sound […]
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There will be some scheduled maintenance tommorrow from about 10am for an hour or so. This is to move the site to a […]
